Game Night
by Shadow Goat Alice
Summary: THTJB - A new tenant attends game night to get acquainted with her new neighbors.


_**AN:**__ This story takes place in late October._

"Janet?" She approached a younger woman with brunette curls who couldn't have been more than five two. The woman looked up, eyes crinkling with joy as she looked up at her.

"Hi! You must be Linea. Jack told me he was going to send you my way." Janet replied.  
Linea smiled back. "Yes, I thoroughly enjoy watching these kind of events, and while I am a chemist, cooking is my second passion, so Jack suggested I might be able to assist you."

"That's great!" Janet replied, smiling. "I always welcome a little extra help!"

The two of them got to work. Janet had Linea begin setting up a table for the food. She laid out a large table cloth, and began placing plates strategically around the table so there wouldn't be a bad jam-up when people began collecting their food. Linea listened while she carried out her task, hoping to glean some familiarity with the people around her. The lessons she learned in prison should certainly help her fit in here.

"You can't do that! You're cheating!" A voice exclaimed from the game table.

"You can't cheat on Dungeons and Dragons McKay. Who even invited this twat?" Another  
female voice replied.

"I thought you did Jenn, he's your lab partner after all." another male voice retorted.

"Why would I invite this asshat? I have to see enough of him at school!"

A second female voice snickered before replying. "Sorry guys that was me. He really isn't that bad once you get to know him."

"Yeah, sure Liz. Tell that to my TV remote."

"Hey! You asked me to fix it!" McKay replied defensively.

"Yeah, key word there is FIX. You just dismantled it and told me to buy a new one. I had to get  
John to put it back together."

"John? Really? That idiot?"

"Hey! I'll have you know I'm a certified member of MENSA."

"YOU!?" McKay looked defeated as he tried to find something else to say.

"Yeah they're a funny group." Janet said, having silently appeared next to Linea with a pot of boiled root vegetables to scoop into a bowl.

"So what is their story? They seem an unlikely group of friends, yet they seem extremely familiar with one another." Linea asked, hoping to glean as much information about her neighbors as possible.

"Hmm? Oh, well they all have some classes together. Rodney is the only one who doesn't live in the complex." Janet replied as she scooped the vegetables into a few bowls, then topped them with honey.

"And which one is Rod-" Linea began, but then distracted by what she was seeing exclaimed  
"did you just put honey on that!?"

Janet laughed softly. "Yeah. It's a traditional Viking dish; honey glazed root vegetables. It's actually quite good!"

Linea looked at the plate questionably. "I suppose I will have to try some."

"Oh you will have to try a little of everything here." Janet smiled, setting the now empty pot on the table. "Now lets see, Rodney is the stuck-up misogynist who's likely accusing people of cheating."

"The one they referred to as McKay?"

"Yeah that's the one. Next to him is Jennifer Hailey. She, Rodney, and Sam are all in the Physics program. You met Sam right?" Janet waited for Linea to nod before continuing. "On the other side of Rodney is Elizabeth Weir, she's a med student. And the other two are Aiden Ford and John Shepphard. John and Aiden are both rookie police officers. They've pretty much all known each other since Undergrad, with the exception of Hailey. She's quite young to be in college, but she did her undergraduate physics degree as a teenager. She had to get special permissions filled out. She's not even eighteen yet! Kid's a genius."

Linea smiled politely and nodded while she tried to calm her nerves. Two cops in the same complex as her? She's not technically a fugitive anymore, but she was less than honest with

Jack when she signed the lease. The last thing she wanted was her past catching up with her, and the last thing she needed was two cops snooping around.

"Linea?" Janet's voice broke her from her thoughts.

"I'm so sorry Janet! What were you saying?"

"I was asking if you could help me transfer the Kornmjölsgröt to the serving bowls? It's really hot, and the pot is quite big. I'd rather not do it alone."

"Oh! Of course! What… what is it? Corn… mules groot?" If there was one thing that Linea was sure of, this was the strangest night she'd had since being released from prison."

"Hey, that's a pretty good pronunciation! I had Daniel teach me how to pronounce it. It's barley porridge with herring-though I've substituted chicken. Easier to acquire." Janet said, winking.  
The two worked continued to chat while they worked, and Janet filled her in on the rest of the group. Most of the people at game night were residents of the apartment complex, though a few like Rodney had been invited by friends or coworkers. After some time, Janet disappeared to collect a few things she'd forgotten in her apartment, and Linea was left to transfer various strangely named-though relatively normal looking-foods onto serving dishes.

"Hey chef, what's cookin'?" A warm voice inquired. Linea looked up to see John Shepherd smiling down at her. She felt the blood drain from her face as she tried to smile back. "Hey! I know you!" He continued. "You're famous! What did they call you… the destroyer of worlds?"

"I… uh." Linea began, feeling her blood pressure drip as she tried to think of a coherent denial.

"Look, I know you got a pretty hefty sentence for that… but I personally think it was pretty admirable."

"Excuse me?" She looked up at him in shock.

"You we're trying to create a vaccine right? To cure aids?"

"And hundreds of my subjects died in the process." She replied heavily.

"All convicts." He argued.

"You mean people with families." She replied quietly, then thought to herself 'they didn't call me destroyer of worlds for no reason. I destroyed the world of every family connected to that experiment.'

"So you didn't go through the proper channels. But you were trying to do a good thing. I personally think your sentence was a bit overkill."

"Can we please…" Linea sighed. "I don't want anyone to know."

"Oh, yeah. Trying to start fresh. I totally understand! Mum's the word." He flashed a smile at her.

"Was there.. something I can help you with?" She said, by way of changing the subject.

"Oh. Yeah, I just wanted to see if the drinks were ready yet."

Just then the room erupted with shouts of glee. John and Linea turned to see what the commotion was about, only to spot a new group entering the room. Jack entered first, looking rather pleased with himself. He was followed closely by a flustered looking Daniel, and a clearly embarrassed Sam.

John snickered. "Looks like poor Sam walked in on the boys."

"Yeah, that's definitely what it looks like." Janet's voice came from behind Linea, who jumped in surprise to see the woman standing there.

"How long have you been back?" Linea asked nervously.

"Hm? Just got here before the commotion." Janet replied, moving to stand with Linea and John while they watched the new arrivals. "Man, Danny has it bad. Poor Sam."

"I know!" John piped up, excited to join in the gossip. "I'm betting she just walked in on them. You think this means the flirting will end?"

Just as John spoke the words, Jack leaned down and whispered something to Sam. Sam responded by giving him a cheeky, flirtatious grin as she spoke. He laughed, then turned and headed towards his usual seat. Sam looked him up and down like a snack as he walked away.

"I would say that's a no." Janet replied, having watched the whole display with the rest of them.

"Why was everyone so excited when they showed up? The games already started hasn't it?"  
Linea asked, feeling slightly confused.

"Well, Daniel owns the table for starters and he usually DM's but clearly he was 'busy' tonight." She made air quotes when she said busy and grinned in amusement.

"Are you sure Jack and Daniel are a couple?" Linea asked. The look Jack was giving Sam over his character sheet was… well… smoldering.

"They have been in each other's back pockets for years now. Jack moved in after a bad break up he doesn't talk about. I'm a little surprised Daniel didn't move in with him when George gave hm the management job after Walter got Simmons fired. Don't tell Jack that's how he got the job. Walter hated Simmons."

"That's no reason to get someone fired though." Linea said with a frown.

"Oh it's not like that, Simmons was lying to tenants he didn't like about evicting them which is highly illegal. Want to hear the weird part? The jerk is a building inspector now so George still has to deal with him." Janet said in disgust and handed Linea another bowl of food she couldn't even guess the contents of but it smelled delicious. "Put that next to the lamb shanks please."

"Where on earth are you getting lamb shanks from this time of year?"

"Sam found this great hallal butcher on the other side of town. It's a bit of a drive but worth it. I get most of my spices there now too as the prices are better. I had to take Daniel to translate the first few times as I don't know a lick of Arabic."

"What's Daniel majoring in?"

Janet laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"It's quicker to list what Daniel isn't majoring in. I think he's a trust fund kid because he rarely has anything resembling a real job and yet he's got at least three degrees that I know of for sure and working on more. Lately it's been Egyptian history. A couple years ago he was obsessed with Mesopotamia."

Game night was one of the few times Jack lost the grumpy landlord routine and just relaxed. Currently he had Sam sitting on his knee to save table space while he was talking to Daniel about the campaign. Linea tilted her head. Something about the way Jack was casually touching Sam seemed off for him to be dating Daniel. She decided to discreetly move closer in pretense of observing the game but it really was to eavesdrop.

"You're really going to cast that spell huh?" he rumbled to Sam.

"Jack the part that matters is that the spell is high enough in power and that I roll higher than a ten. Other than that it doesn't really matter what I do."

"But it's…" Jack seemed at a loss for words.

"Silly." Daniel supplied.

"Did I ask you Space Monkey?" She said archly as she rolled the dice. "HA! Natural twenty. Suck it Orc boy."

"Half orc." Jack admonished her.

"What's the other half?" Rodney asked him snidely.

"Your mom." Jack replied with a grin.

"Rude." McKay sniffed and put his nose back behind his character sheets.  
Everyone but Rodney laughed though.

"You walked right into that McKay." John told him."

"No one likes you Sheppard." Rodney told him.

"Not true, I have it on good authority that Linea finds me delightful." John said smugly.

"Well then she has terrible taste."

"Better than your mom though." Jenn told him and everyone cracked up again.

"You guys suck."

"But not as hard as your mom." Liz said and high fived Sam.  
Liena chuckled at their antics. Aiden seemed quiet when he wasn't taking his turn. Jack and Daniel were talking about Daniel's current professor of Egyptology while Jack's hand was settled into a very intimate portion of Sam's anatomy which would have looked entirely innocent on first glance until you noticed his fingers were tracing lazy suggestive patterns on her. That was clearly not accidental. If those two weren't involved yet they would be soon. Janet could say what she wanted. Daniel might be gay but Jack was definately interested in at least one woman. Linea just hoped no one got hurt even though in all probability that was going to be the end result. Then again, Jack wouldn't be the first bi guy with two lovers who were equally comfortable with his various needs and got along well either.  
The rest of the night went continued in a similar fashion. Linea found everyone in the room was quite easy to get along with-the exception being Rodney, who walked up to the food station during bathroom breaks to insist his blood sugar was low, then drill Janet on the ingredients in every dish, turning most of them down due to "allergies."

"Fine. Just give me a turkey leg then." Rodney grumbled.

"First of all, I am not your mother." Janet replied, a wicked gleam in her eye. "Secondly, the rules were clearly stated at the beginning of the night. If you pick up that turkey leg, you forfeit your right to continue the game."

"Now how is that fair? Come on Janet. You know I need to eat something or I'll pass out."

"Those are the rules Rodney. If you were that worried about it, you should have eaten before you came."

Rodney grumbled something under his breath and then stomped away angrily. Then Janet turned to Linea with an evil smirk on her face.

"That man is a hypochondriac if I've ever seen one." Janet laughed once he was out of earshot. "Well! They're going to start coming for refills soon."

"Refills?" Linea asked, curiously.

"Oh that's right, you weren't here when everyone first showed up. We serve mead for the game. With dinner also. The tankards are pretty big, so they usually don't need refills until break time."

"That must be what John came looking for earlier." Linea mused.

"Yeah," Janet smiled. "I refilled him while you were watching the game. That boy drinks like a fish sometimes. Can you help me with this?"

"Hmm?" Linea replied, then saw Janet pulling a large jug out from under the table and rushed to help her. "Is this going to be enough?" She asked doubtfully as she watched a group begin heading their way.

Janet laughed. "Oh honey, I've got three more of these under here." She answered, patting the table fondly as she spoke.

After everyone got their second round of drinks and headed back to their seats, the volume in the room seemed to double. Linea noticed Aiden pulling out a small flask and offering it to a few individuals around him. John took a swig then passed it to the Man who introduced himself as Ronon. Ronon took the flask and proceeded to pour the contents of it into his Mead.

"Hey! You're supposed to leave some for me Surf-N-Turf!" Aiden scolded.

"Should've taken what you wanted before you passed it out." Ronon said simply, shrugging.

"Okay John," Walter, the acting DM said. "You open the door and see three fire giants, what do you do?"

John pondered for a moment before he responded. "I'm going to turn myself into a giant snowball and roll myself in there."

"You.. what?" Liz said, looking dubious.

"Hey, if it works it works."

"Just roll." Walter sighed.

John Rolled, looked at his numbers, and cheered. "Yes!"

"I can't believe that worked." Liz said, burying her face in her hands.  
Walter shook his head, and moved on. "Okay, everyone proceeds into the room. Sam this next one's for you."

"Hmm?" Sam asked, looking rather distracted from her perch on Jacks knee. Her face was flushed, which could be attributed to the alcohol, but Linea suspected it was due to something else entirely.

Walter barely even looked up from his sheet. "You cross the room to find a door with a combination lock. It is impossible to guess the combination. What do you do?"

"Easy," she replied, seeming to have recovered from her previous distraction. "I'll hack the system."

"You'll hack the… Sam do you have any idea your odds of successfully hacking a system like that? Especially one you know nothing about?" Rodney replied smugly. "There's no way it will work."

"Watch me." Sam glared back at him.

Walter, being an engineering major, had prepared for this response from Sam. "Okay Sam, first step to hack the console is by removing the keypad without damaging anything. You have  
to roll a ten or higher to succeed."

Sam rolled, looked smugly back at rodney, and replied to Walter without looking away. "Next?"

"You manage to pry off the keypad successfully, and see groups of oddly shaped crystals inside the console. In order to hack the system, you need to figure out what the crystals do."

"Okay, I examine the crystals inside the console." She replied, smiling as she rolled.

"You are unable to decipher the system. You are going to have to pull crystals at random. Roll eighty or higher to open the door."

"See!" Rodney exclaimed. "I told you it wasn't going to work."

"Oh shut up McKay." John said, backhanding him from across the table.

Sam Rolled her dice and everyone was quiet for a moment. They all looked down at the table, and then the room erupted in cheers.

"You rolled an 85!" Walter exclaimed. "You pulled the right crystal by chance on the first try, the door slides open and you pick up your supplies."

"Oh COME ON!" Rodney complained. "That's not even remotely likely."

"Oh you're just bitter she had to rescue you from that Snow giant earlier." Jack rebutted, smirking.

"Okay," Walter says sternly, calling the players attention back on him. "You all enter the next room. An agile man in dark clothing attacks the group and takes Rodney hostage."

"Why are you always picking on me!?" Rodney exclaimed.

"Quit whining Rodney!" Liz scolded, stomping hard on his foot. "Please continue Walter."

"John, the enemy is now using Rodney as a human shield. What do you do?"

"Easy, I'll shoot him."

"Rodney or the enemy?" Aiden snickered.

"Well I'll aim for the enemy. But we all know Rodney is expendable." John mock whispered.

"Hey! I'll have you know-"

"Walter I shoot him." John interrupted Rodney's complaints.

"Okay, but you only have a ten percent chance to hit. If you hit Rodney it counts as a miss."

"Shame. I'll give it a go anyways"

"John! Don't shoot me!" Rodney protested.

"You need to roll a ninety." Walter said.

Rodney looked panicked, john shrugged and rolled the dice. Everyone watched the dice roll a few times, then when they landed on ninety nine a few people sighed, and some others groaned.

"See," John said, beaming at Rodney. "No problem!"

"You literally just gambled with my life!" Rodney exclaimed. "The hell kind of cop ARE you?"

"The kind that gets shit done." John said smugly, as he reached over and high fives Aiden.

"This game looks pretty fun." Linea mused, looking at Janet who was just finishing up with the last round of turkey legs.

"I suppose, I find it more entertaining to watch myself." Janet replied, lifting a small dinner bell from the counter behind her. "Five minute warning!" Janet said, ringing the bell.

Linea watched Janet fill a large tankard with mead and begin to drink. Feeling Linea's star, Janet turned to smile at her inquiringly.

"Now the food is done, I can have a drink. You want some?" Janet said, reaching for another Tankard.

"No, thank you, I don't drink." Linea replied gracefully.

"Suit yourself." Janet shrugged, grabbed a turkey leg, and wandered off toward the tables.

The food was gone in no time. Soon it became apparent that everyone was completely drunk. Linea even saw a whiskey bottle appear from underneath Jacks chair every time someone wandered by him. He was spinking the mead, all with Sam still on his lap. Soon everything descended into utter chaos. Linea found it quite entertaining that not one single person noticed Sam and Jack making out in the corner. Even Rodney, who periodically tried to corner Sam and lay one on her didn't notice.

Finally, Linea decided she had reached her limit. These people were all going to have hangovers from hell, but she felt pretty certain they weren't going to bother her as none of them would be leaving their rooms until noon. She took one last fond look at her amusing new neighbors, and headed upstairs for a good night's sleep.


End file.
